So, I've had discussions with a few friends here lately and I was wondering how you find new stories to read?

Personally, what I do is this:

I get PMs when authors I follow post something new, I sometimes click on stories that I see friends have voted or commented on in my newsfeed, I'll check out the front page to see what's new.

Those are the main ways that I find out about new stories and how I choose to read them.

Of course, there are quite a few ways for writers to promote their stuff and I wondered how you do or do not like to find out what people are writing...

To promote mine:

- I will often blog when I post something new, so that my friends can see.

- I will sometimes change my forum signature so that people in the forums can see (although I'm not sure how effective this method is)

- I used to send out mass messages to friends on my list, however, I've found that I don't like to be bombarded with messages of this sort, so I only tend to do it if I have a competition entry, or something special to promote - it seems like a bit of an intrusion to me somehow.

- When I have a story verified, there is an option in the PM informing you that the story has been posted, to tweet it - I sometimes do that.

Anyone on my friend's list can send me a notification, mass notification or private, it doesn't matter. They are on my friend's list and why even have a friend's list if you can't behave like a friend and be a friend.

I do promote my stories when I write a new one. The object is to have people read them. My goal is to have as many people as possible find some enjoyment from something I love to do.

Joined: 10/28/2013Posts: 8,150Location: On the bluffs above the Mississippi River., United

I don't "follow" anyone, I prefer to use a combination of the flowing:#1 look at what my friends have written#2 look on the home page for new story titles that might be of interest#3 when posting in the forums, look at the profiles of the people I'm posting TOO and check their stories out#4 peruse the categories I find of interest

Joined: 6/15/2013Posts: 1,243Location: Digging a hole on the beach, Australia

My primary source for new stories has been the competitions. There's been about 180 from the last three rounds alone.

Next, I'm slowly working my way through my friends' stories, typically prioritising those who send out a bulk email and those I've seen submit a new story on my activity feed (when it's not flooded by posts about someone I don't know's gallery picture).

Then I tend to look at the stories some of my friends are voting and commenting on, again from my activity feed. But I'm a bit more discriminating on who I follow into the fray, given some of my friends don't have the best taste in stories. Then again, I should watch what I say, especially as they're probably friends because they liked one of mine. Bit of a Woody Allen moment.

The notifications I receive from authors I'm following is a no-brainer. But I almost always drop everything and read those ones straight away, rather than just dump them into my reading queue.

Lastly, I'll sometimes follow the links at the bottom of each story to something similar. Bit of a story lotto, but sometimes rewarding.

At some point, I'll troll through the categories looking for something that blows my skirt up, no doubt starting with the Editor's Picks and the Recommended Reads. Heaven forbid, maybe even the new stories. But so far I've got enough to read with the above that I haven't got around to it yet.

For promoting my own, my forum signature is my primary source, and I keep that updated with my latest story. I have asked a few friends to read some of my stories in the context of, "I'd love to know what you think", but that's pretty much it.

As for the bulk emails, I have thought about it for competition entries, especially close to the deadline. But I got the ten votes I needed, so I didn't bother. I don't like it, mainly for self-esteem reasons, but I don't mind others sending to me. I think Buzz makes a good point, if you can't email your friends...Please check out my latest story, Kibeho

Joined: 10/26/2013Posts: 1,981Location: Somewhere near her heart - any other place is hell

I have only used mass Lush mail once - to shamelessly promote an entry in a competition. Why? Simply because if I didn't, chances are the story would not get enough votes to even make the top ten, much less have a chance. There are authors here who are well known that have the ability to simply post a story and poof - they get votes. No problem, personally, as I am yet a noob on this site. I understand it takes time to create a following. Which is why I shamelessly self promotoed myself.

Would I do it for all my stories? No. Multiple reasons, but the biggest is that I don't want to inundate my Lush friends with a constant barrage of emails that I have posted yet another story. No, I'm not a prolific author, but it is my hope to submit one a month, if not two. Why should my friends have to be told? Those that care will know without being told.

As for how I determine what stories I am going to read, there are certain categories I will be attracted to, but that doesn't mean I won't read other types. Usually I can tell if I am going to like any story within the first few paragraphs. No, it doesn't have to have instant sex or even the beginning foreplay of sex. The writing style will hook me. Bad spelling or grammar and I'm out of there. I suppose I should say something, but I think it better to provide that type of criticism to the author directly - not for all to see.

There you have it. At least my version of it. Shameless self promotion, in my opinion, should be held only for special situations. If you use it too often, it turns out more like Peter crying wolf.

It's strange, all the posts come from authors in this thread!Self promotion methinks!I get most of the stories that I read from the forums. Being a forum junkie I read profiles of people posting and if they've written a story I'll often read it. This has taken me into various categories that I would not normally check out. This way I've found some great stories I would have missed.My biggest problem is the sheer number of stories on here.

It's strange, all the posts come from authors in this thread!Self promotion methinks!I get most of the stories that I read from the forums. Being a forum junkie I read profiles of people posting and if they've written a story I'll often read it. This has taken me into various categories that I would not normally check out. This way I've found some great stories I would have missed.My biggest problem is the sheer number of stories on here.

I was one of the people Mazza had talked to about this subject. I was so glad when she thought of the idea, because I want to know how other readers feel about authors advertising their work.

As an author, I feel bad about advertising my own work, although I might blog about the odd one now and again, if I'm very worried about it, or relieved I finally wrote it. I'll use Twitter as well, as not many people follow me anyway, so it's like a fun thing to try and do. I do have a small section of my signature to advertise my own Lush book, but the original intention of it was to try and give a tiny bit back to Lush if there were any sales. I felt better about promoting that because of the hope it might. I know that there are far better authors out there than I, who can be found both on here and in Lush Publishing's books.

Any authors who have posted here have done so both as readers, and as authors who are keenly aware that readers have likes and dislikes on advert methods. Who better to see both sides? However, Mazza posted in "Ask the Readers" because we wanted to know what readers thought. Authors are readers too.

From a reader's point of view, I hate the endless mass mails (which I have gratefully opted out of, thanks to Gav!), constant blogs, and even single messages. But it's not because I find them tedious (although that's certainly an element). It's because I actually find reading very difficult. I'm trying to get past the mindset I was raised with, but what really hampers my reading, and therefore affects how I see the ads, is my mental ability to read. I go through long periods where I cannot write myself, or be creative in any way. In these times, I can read the same sentence over and over, and still get nowhere. I can read the whole story, and not remember any of it. Sometimes, it can take me three days to read the same page of a paper book.

I have a long list of people's stories I want to read; some are friends, some are not. I find poetry a bit easier, because it is shorter. But I can't always even do that. Doing my own edits is a nightmare, so I have taken to asking friends for proofing and editing, which I never used to do. During my short time as a story verifier, I couldn't process anything like the others could because of it. In the end, I gave up and left a place for somebody with better concentration than I.

So adverts for stories? I hate them, but I understand them. They just point out my inability. Plus, I cannot abide the flashing forum signatures (of any sort). I will refuse to read stories of people who have them, because if the ad stops me reading their thread post, I certainly won't put myself to trial trying to read their story. I will stick, rather, to my extremely long list of stories I already want to get through.

But I would love to see how others view the ad methods, as I am aware that not everybody thinks like I do.

This is a difficult one for me to answer. A big part of why I'm on Lush is to write. It's important to me. At the same time, I don't want to appear like I'm begging or pressuring people to read what I write. The 'shameless' self-promotion hits the nail on the head, in a lot of ways. It's difficult to be 'shameless' about it, even though in the industry you almost have to be (or have others doing it for you). It's still something I'm not always comfortable with.

Even on Twitter, I see endless author accounts who just tweet the same adverts for their eBooks over and over again, multiple times a day, every single day. Just adverts. Just retweets. And yes, they have thousands of followers. As a reader I find those sort of tactics to be a real put-off, so I don't get it. I don't like heavy-handed sales tactics with zero personal touch. When I see author accounts, I want to see that the person is putting in at least some effort to let people know who they are as well - their thoughts, interests - not always non-stop *BUY THIS!* and *READ THAT* spam-capades, like a PR-robot.

On Lush, I guess it's the fine line between promoting your writing and not appearing pushy about it. Let's be honest, if every person who wrote on this site used the All-Friends PM method every single time they posted something, our inboxes would be permanently flooded. Some writers here post multiple stories or poems a month. I think that's too much. I don't mind the PM-blasts on occasion - they often will remind me to read something I might not have noticed otherwise. At the same time, I have great respect for the *follow* button on Lush and assume that those that want to be notified when certain people post stories here will use that.

For my own promotion here, I pretty much just use my profile blog and my forum signature. I have sent an All-Friends message twice in my lifetime on Lush - both around the holidays (one year apart) to wish people well and to mention eBooks that I published that year (the 'follow' button doesn't cover eBooks). That's the system I'm most in favour of, but as I said - I don't mind if people use the occasional all-friends message if it's just once in a while for a big important story that you're proud of or a comp entry or if you haven't written in a while. If it's something that gets over-used or blasted for things like "hey, I posted a new pic of myself on my profile - comment on it!" or "here's a link to my weekly poem!" then yeah, it's annoying. It's definitely a fine balance.

From a reader's point of view, I hate the endless mass mails (which I have gratefully opted out of, thanks to Gav!)

I didn't know this bit of genius existed until I read your post. I had to stop reading this thread, open a new tab, and enable it. To be honest, I don't horribly mind when someone has a new story and does this every few months or so. Buz is a perfect example. I get a pm from him and make a mental note to read his story. However, when it happens every time I log in that I've received a mass message from the same damn author it drives me nuts. I've honestly turned off this function because of one person.

As a person who has written a few stories, I think I remember mass PMing people twice, and the last time was more than a year ago. I will usually create a banner for my signature and then blog about it when I have a new story. That's usually the extent of my self promotion. However, when I have created a banner for a new story, you better believe I'm not above whoring it up by posting more in the forums. There is a direct correlation.

As a reader, I take recommendations from friends (Maz is good at giving out suggestions, wanted or otherwise ), new stories in my feed posted by friends, I usually try to read several stories in the comps, and I will also check out stories when I see someone in the forums. Those are usually my go-to ways of finding stories.

I get notifications from authors I follow. And many times if see that a friend has commented on a story I will check it out and if the title or tags are appealing I will read it. Sometimes I will read the posted comments and see how it was received but I rarely do that. I much rather go into it with an open mind.

I also have no objection to self-promoting such as having it in your forum signature . If you work hard on something and are proud of it, then I see nothing wrong with a little advertisement!

OK, good evening and all that...I'm new on here, a little lost and probably posting in the wrong place...forgive me if I am but seeing as this is a piece of shameless self-promotion it seems like a good spot! I really just wanted to punt a short story I've written, which is free at least until the end of today. It's called Hot Wet Touches and it's about an 'incident' that occurs in a sauna...I won't spoil it any more than that but I would LOVE to hear any feedback and get some reviews written, anywhere that takes your fancy. It's my first effort so could use the support. The link to the book is here:

I stopped shamelessly promoting my work after I wrote my first story (which I deleted). Now I'm shamelessly shoving my work down people's throats. You want to chat with me? You better leave a comment and grade my work. You want to see the main character in my stories? Leave me a PM, oh, yes, and a comment + grade.

You want to see me naked? Well... I'm not promoting that hard, sorry. No worries, you're not missing out much anyway.

I even have a forum thread about my stories. So it's abuse of lushies at its finest.

Truth is, I really enjoy writing my stories. I get a little turned on, and I get some good laughs. It hurts me a bit when I see a story of mine being ignored, because, as egocentric as it sounds, I believe it's a good story. If I didn't, I'd never publish it. And... um... you know, the mere thought of someone getting off to what I write... well, I do find it kind of sexy. I do believe some of the problem arises from the fact I'm new and I haven't developed a proper net of followers.

As a reader, I do not mind being "abused" at all. I've read countless stories here on Lush, and if someone points out a story to me I'll gladly read it. You can throw pretty much any trick in the marketing book on me, and I really wouldn't mind.

I dont mind my friends telling me they have a new story via their blog. I'll more than likely get around to reading it anyway. To promote it once or twice is fine, beyond that I find it a little excessive. If I get a friend request, often the first thing I will do is read their blog. If its littered with copious amounts of self promotion, Im sorry to say I wont be accepting it. I dont want to open my feed to find you are promoting the same story every other day for weeks on end. I feel like its being rammed down my throat. I think writers should let their readers know they have a new story, but I think there comes a time when its good to let it go and let the reader get to it when they can.

I'm a firm believer of opt-in. If someone is getting my updates, it's because they want them.

I've got a mailing list, my website, and I'm on Twitter and Facebook at reader request. Once I have enough posts under my belt to use links and pics, I'll probably advertise in my sig here, as I do other places. I see no reason to push with a mass PM or anything of that nature. From the way I see it, I'm likely annoying more people than I'm informing that way.

I've had authors send never-ending messages simply because I've left a comment on a story, accepted a friend request, or something of that nature. It's annoying, and I won't do that to anybody else.

The odd one-off for a "good cause" doesn't bother me. A good example is competition stories, because there's a vote minimum you need to obtain. It's only when it becomes continuous and I haven't asked for it that I start taking steps.

Joined: 4/15/2011Posts: 7,483Location: Soaking up the sun, United States

Wilful wrote:

My primary source for new stories has been the competitions. There's been about 180 from the last three rounds alone.

Next, I'm slowly working my way through my friends' stories, typically prioritising those who send out a bulk email and those I've seen submit a new story on my activity feed (when it's not flooded by posts about someone I don't know's gallery picture).

Then I tend to look at the stories some of my friends are voting and commenting on, again from my activity feed. But I'm a bit more discriminating on who I follow into the fray, given some of my friends don't have the best taste in stories. Then again, I should watch what I say, especially as they're probably friends because they liked one of mine. Bit of a Woody Allen moment.

The notifications I receive from authors I'm following is a no-brainer. But I almost always drop everything and read those ones straight away, rather than just dump them into my reading queue.

Lastly, I'll sometimes follow the links at the bottom of each story to something similar. Bit of a story lotto, but sometimes rewarding.

At some point, I'll troll through the categories looking for something that blows my skirt up, no doubt starting with the Editor's Picks and the Recommended Reads. Heaven forbid, maybe even the new stories. But so far I've got enough to read with the above that I haven't got around to it yet.

For promoting my own, my forum signature is my primary source, and I keep that updated with my latest story. I have asked a few friends to read some of my stories in the context of, "I'd love to know what you think", but that's pretty much it.

As for the bulk emails, I have thought about it for competition entries, especially close to the deadline. But I got the ten votes I needed, so I didn't bother. I don't like it, mainly for self-esteem reasons, but I don't mind others sending to me. I think Buzz makes a good point, if you can't email your friends...

Joined: 4/15/2011Posts: 7,483Location: Soaking up the sun, United States

dpw wrote:

It's strange, all the posts come from authors in this thread!Self promotion methinks!I get most of the stories that I read from the forums. Being a forum junkie I read profiles of people posting and if they've written a story I'll often read it. This has taken me into various categories that I would not normally check out. This way I've found some great stories I would have missed.My biggest problem is the sheer number of stories on here.

I might have written a few stories, but I have read, literally, thousands.

Btw, I agree with Ashleigh about people who tweet, and in any way advertise the same thing more than once...I have no real objection to the occasional mass mailing, or whatever...I can always delete it easy enough...just sayin'You know you want it, you know you need it bad...get it now on Amazon.com...Lush Erotica, an Anthology of Award Winning Sex Stories

Joined: 9/28/2011Posts: 1,230Location: Look up, I'm the one smiling, United States

I'm afraid that I don't fit in very well here, I haven't found my niche and I don't qualify for any cliques (I've tried and I give up). If it was not for the occasional email that I send out, no one would even know I was here or that I wrote a little something.

Anyone on my friend's list can send me a notification, mass notification or private, it doesn't matter. They are on my friend's list and why even have a friend's list if you can't behave like a friend and be a friend.

I do promote my stories when I write a new one. The object is to have people read them. My goal is to have as many people as possible find some enjoyment from something I love to do.

I'm with Buz 100% on this one. My goal is to have as many people as possible find some enjoyment from something I love to do.

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